A new direction in Fitness

Only in two weeks, the whole health and fitness market changed.

I am empowered and delighted by this change - it's actually a huge upgrade. 

Many gyms and personal Trainers are moving online as fast as they can, which is a significant change in multiple ways:

Faster, more direct SERVICE based delivery

Static investments don’t matter anymore. It doesn’t matter how much you have invested in your facility - that you have the shiniest high-end equipment money can afford. The truth is that now NONE OF US has a facility to offer. If this is a good thing or a bad thing? Well, I can argue with both, but there is a point here:

Facilities and equipment never really mattered in your fitness level anyway. You did not get strong and fit by buying gym memberships or setting up a home gym - yes, putting some ‘skin in the game’ does help to feel responsibility, but if you don’t DO THE WORK, nothing will change. Nowadays the fitness industry reflects this fact a little more.

It become a lot easier to see through mediocre coaching.

Suddenly body-weight training experts are popping out left and right, posting how-to’s and follow-through training videos on the internet. As such, it’s becoming more obvious who are the ones who actually spend time to study their trade instead of copy-pasting the trend.

Let me give you a couple of cues to follow:

REPLACE THE BARBELL - They use resistance bands for most of the exercises. This is a clear giveaway - while resistance bands definitely have their places in a workout program, they will not replace barbells, dumbbells and other, heavy tools.

A barbell squat where you replace the bar with a band is next to useless. It does not pose enough challenge to illicit any change at all. There are other, much more effective ways to make a squat harder - try it on a single leg, for example. You might as well add in different speeds for different portions of the exercise (called tempos).

NOT HEAVY EHOUGH - They turn strength training into cardio. They chose light, boring exercises, speeding through them either for time or for 15, 24 or 564 repetitions. This is not strength training anymore; it is moderate intensity cardio. Yes, you can follow these programs to help yourself burning a LITTLE more calories, but in now way you are going to get stronger or build muscle from an exercise you can but out for 90 seconds with confidence.

AEROBICS - They do a lot of ‘hip switches’. Hopping form one leg to the other. I get it. It’s EASTER. Bunnies are everywhere. Still, as I said above, turning your strength training sessions into moderate intensity cardio workout will not help. Yes, drills and jumps are important, but again; anything you can bust out for 90 seconds with solid confidence is too light for you to make a change.

I love technique drills, hops and jumps. If you chose the right variation and difficulty level, they can transform a strength training program, providing spectacular results. But they have a certain place in the training programs (right at the front, after the warmup), and a certain volume to follow. (A few short sets, with significant rest in between).

Summary:

For most of us, working on the field, COVID means we have to close our gyms. But it also means that everyone have to close their gyms. The playing field is even. With the intensity of this change, we, coaches and entrepreneurs are getting exposed. And this is a good thing. Those who stand with integrity and leadership, will grow stronger as a result of this process.

To be honest, Force Training Academy is not affected much - we are working day and night shifting the service to our dedicated online application, finding the best way to teach, train and engage you guys while finally have an opportunity to refurbish and upgrade the gym.

We always believed in in education, support and active help. Even at the start, while most of the gyms around us would make money by renting their floor and equipment to you - and letting you you do whatever the hell you want with it, we were using as little equipment as possible for simply educating, coaching and leading you towards becoming stronger.

The changes this pandemic brought need strong leadership, not follow-through cardio workouts posted on Instagram.

FTA is currently starting a Remote membership. Training programs are customised as always, and delivered interactively, with education online and on Facebook. More info on this on

https://www.theforcetrainingacademy.com